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Mariners decline 2014 options on Franklin Gutierrez and Joe Saunders

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Press Release

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jack Zduriencik announced today that options for the 2014 season on OF Franklin Gutierrez and LHP Joe Saunders have been declined. RHP Stephen Pryor has also been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

Gutierrez and Saunders automatically become free agents, and Pryor has been added back on to the 40-man roster. The Mariners 40-man roster is now at 34 players (see attached) updated roster.

Gutierrez, 30, appeared in 478 games for the Mariners from 2009-2013. He battled injuries over the last three seasons appearing in only 173 of 486 team games, making 6 separate trips to the disabled list. In 41 games last season he batted .248 with 7 doubles and 10 home runs. He was a Gold Glove winner in 2010.

Saunders, 32, went 11-16 with a 5.26 ERA in 32 starts last season with the Mariners. In nine Major League seasons he is 89-81 with a 4.30 ERA in 221 starts.

Pryor, 24, spent most of the 2013 season on the disabled list with a tear in his right latissimus dorsi muscle. He appeared in 7 games with the Mariners, not allowing a run, before being placed on the disabled list on April 15. He had season-ending surgery to repair the injury on August 9.